This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
The weirdest part to me: this comes after the EU determined that Apple's locked store is too restrictive, and Apple agreed to allow 3rd party stores. Why the hell would Android go in the opposite direction? Will this put them in violation of the same EU regulation?
I really wish I wasn't so dependent on certain financial apps. How much happier I would be to just give Google the finger and switch to Lineage, Graphene, or something like that. Unfortunately, a lot of must-have apps for me to even be able to live in my country, practically speaking, are incompatible with anything other than official iOS and Android.
Why not get a bank pass for this kind of stuff, and do banking on websites if you need to?
Unfortunately it doesn't really work that way where I'm from.
Couldn't you get like the cheapest android phone just for these apps specifically? Or do people need to do banking stuff on the go?
This is something I am considering. Could even put it in a Faraday bag when I'm not using it.
What if I disabled Play store and use Aurora and Fdroid for everything? Am I safe until I can afford to replace?
I think it's on Google Play services so you need a rom with microG services.
I hate Google. They need to be broken down.
How is it even legal for a company to decide what you can or can't install in your own device?
For the same reason they can make you click agree to terms before you can do anything with the device.
I reckon that means it is not actually your own device.
Because anti-trust has not been enforced this century, with the exception of Lina-Khan's work as the FCC director.
Companies have been pushing the boundaries further and further for decades, with almost no push back.
Legal is just whoever has the most resources.
The US supports monopolies as long as they have a backdoor. It was the same with Microsoft in the 90s.
Ugghhhh, its THEIR OS you're using. Perfect example is Nintendo.
You mean the original NES which they tried in court to stop unlicensed carts and lost, right? Right?
"If you want to replace Internet Explorer with Netscape Navigator, why not just use Solaris or OS/2 or something? It's THEIR OS you're using" didn't go over too well with the courts.
Reckon we are gonna need to see some how to guides for adb. I presume its like the linux terminal?
It's pretty easy to use, you just need a USB cable. But it is a cli like terminal so you do want to search for how to use it and not just guess because you can delete files accidentally easier. But you always just start with 'adb devices' and that just lets you know if it's working.
̶S̶̶i̶̶d̶̶e̶̶l̶̶o̶̶a̶̶d̶̶i̶̶n̶̶g̶ Installing
I have the new Jolla Phone preordered and I'm excited to see how it plays out. Maybe 2026 is the year of the Linux Phone
We will get that reality with SteamOS supporting mobile devices whether gov likes it or not. These laws are SO god damn stupid.
They've been saying "maybe it's the year of the Linux desktop" for years, mobile Linux only reliably works on a handful of specific modern devices and some fairly old ones
I wouldn't hold my breath for it
I know that the year of the Linux desktop is a bit of a meme but that's why I was referencing it. That said, the year of the Linux desktop has long come for me personally and only my desktop PC still has a Windows partition but I don't know when I last booted into it. I won't immediately ditch my Android phone, but I'm excited to test the viability of a Linux phone for me personally
Motorola is making a graphene OS phone soon.
If they don't cancel the partnership over ~~age verification~~ digital IDs
And that's why I'm installing /e/OS in my Fairphone 6, and shifting to Linux based phones.
Even now Google is removing everything that is a choice to avoid their massive surveillance machine, apps started complaining about removal of UnifiedPush:
Fuck Google.
Great. So half my software won't work.
Google, just call it what it is. Ad blocking prevention.
Ummm... Isn't this precisely against the whole EU's make sideloading (ie. installing) as easy as main app store installing thing?
Taking steps backwards...
Apple shat all over those regulations with their implementation and got away with it so now Google are doing the same
